


are you exasperated? (i know you love it)

by Oliraki



Category: South Park
Genre: Also Getting Arrested, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Banter, Barista Kenny McCormick, Flirting, Getting Together, Implied/Referenced Character Death, It's Kenny Though, Late Night Writing, M/M, One Shot, POV Kenny, Slow Build, Student Kenny McCormick, Student Kyle Broflovski, no actual kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-12
Updated: 2018-11-12
Packaged: 2019-08-22 21:11:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16605521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oliraki/pseuds/Oliraki
Summary: "Well, this is a nice change of scenery.""Kenny, we're in a prison cell.""I was being sarcastic, Kyle."It all started with a tired voice that could only belong to a fellow student.





	are you exasperated? (i know you love it)

**Author's Note:**

> It's literally 12am but I wanted to write something, thanks to being inspired by my girlfriend's writing. I think I've actually never written K2 despite it being one of my favorite ships? So yeah, uh, enjoy I guess. It's shitty.  
> English isn't my native language.
> 
> !!If you see any typos etc. feel free to inform me. I'm so tired lmao  
> Edited on 13.11.2018 -> I removed the typos I could see and made a few sentences a bit smoother to read

It all started with a tired voice that could only belong to a fellow student.

Kenny McCormick, a barista at the coffee shop next to the local college and a student in said college, had been enjoying a well deserved smoking break after handling _three_ prissy businessmen twenty minutes before closing time; after this, he would still need to close up the shop and then actually walk home to catch up on reading for a physics test that he had been pushing way too close to the deadline -- his easy plans for the night, though, were easily destroyed by a rather uncaring, tired voice.

"I don't think that what you're doing is legal, so if you could just let me go, that would be great", a distinctively male voice echoed on the back alley of the  _Steaming Hotties_ (he would, very proudly, admit that the name had been the reason he had tried out for the job in the first place) which made Kenny slowly lower his lit cigarette as he rose away from the wall to his full height, so as to see better over the dumpster. And there he was, a cute redhead he had seen a couple of times in college and in the shop, being mugged at eight fucking o'clock, on a school night -- usually, he would approve of being out at this time (more time to chat the lad up, after all) but mugging someone was a bit desperate, even in his eyes. And while his childhood days of being Mysterion were done and gone..  
"Hey, dipshit", Kenny voiced, making his voice more sharper than it usually was in an effort to try and get the mugger to get the hell out of dodge; in the end, it proved to be moot point as the two only turned towards him -- the pretty redhead with raised eyebrows and a somewhat amused look in his (pretty) green eyes. The petty criminal, though, took the opportunity to flash out a switchblade. Great. _Well, I haven't died in a while. And it was going so well, too._  
"There's literally security cameras around here. And I have a physics test first thing in the morning, so if we could just get on with it?", the blonde continued, gesturing with the hand holding his still lit cigarette vaguely in the direction of said cameras. The petty criminal, in a fit of pure genius, turned to look straight at them and thus ended up exposing his face at the things; he could hear the snort of the guy getting mugged and yeah, okay, he could appreciate that kind of humor. Guy is literally getting mugged and he's amused by the attempt. Apparently recognizing his attempt had been foiled, the criminal turned tail to run out of the alleyway to -- go where criminals went when they weren't doing criminal-y.. stuff. _Yeah, I need sleep. Goodbye, decent grade._

"I suppose this is the moment where I'm supposed to thank you", the voice of the redhead shook Kenny away from his thoughts and it took him a second to connect the dots. Snorting, he dropped his unfinished cigarette to the ground, stomping on it as he walked towards the backdoor of the _Steaming Hotties,_ while gesturing for the fellow sleep-deprived student to follow him. It would be rude to leave a guy outside to freeze to death after just saving him from a mugger, and he supposed his boss would understand if he needed to explain -- she was soft for sob stories like that, not that he minded. His could be counted one, if he were to share it, so.  
"Thank me tomorrow when I'm not about to fall asleep on my feet. Damn, I'm going to fail that test..", the barista muttered, absently tugging his jacket on (he had already changed to his everyday clothes, since no one came here five minutes before closing time. There were shops closer than this, after all) all the while turning few of the coffee machines off and the lights. It was quiet enough for a few minutes that when the guy spoke once again, it actually spooked him enough to flinch.  
"I suppose I can do that. I'm Kyle, and I guess I'll see you tomorrow", the redhead -- Kyle -- answered with an amused tone before strolling right out of the front door. Kenny followed him with his eyes, in the middle of picking up his schoolbag from the floor where he had left it while going out to smoke.  
"Huh."

* * *

 

Surprisingly, Kyle did come back the next day.

Having done the physics test (and probably, absolutely failing it), Kenny had discovered his English class had been cancelled, thus leaving him free for the rest of the day -- in a fit of brilliance, he had called up his boss to ask if there were any free shifts and lucky for him, one of his co-workers had cancelled just half an hour prior due to falling sick. After getting to the _Steaming Hotties_ and mentioning the mugging attempt on the back alley, he had been sitting the counter on a slow day while bored out of his fucking mind; he was absently tracing shapes onto his English notebook when the bell above the door sounded and automatically he pulled his customer smile on while looking up.  
"Welcome to _Steaming Hotties,_ the best strip club--", he started, before blinking in surprise at the rather familiar shade of red hidden by an absurdly green hat. Leaning slightly backwards in surprise, he tried to think of what to say to a guy who had left you like, five seconds after you had saved him from getting mugged when his boss stormed to the front from the back.  
"Kenny McCormick, how many times have I told you not to say that!", she hissed and he lifted his hands in the universal gesture of surrender, properly terrified of the woman who signed his paycheck but still not terrified enough to actually bother to try and censor himself -- at least yet. Okay, so he _did_ try and check who was walking in before throwing suggestive comments. Usually.  
"Alright, sorry, ma'am. Welcome to the _Steaming Hotties,_ how may I take your order, my good sir?", Kenny voiced, turning towards the smirking redhead with a look of crafted innocence on his face; his boss, being the intuitive woman she was, stayed to stare at him taking the order before leaving with a satisfied nod and a _I'm watching you_ \- motion.

* * *

 

It escalated from that rather quickly, Kenny noticed.

They were both tired students, needed at least three coffees per day to stay awake for most of the time and they both shared a rather morbid brand of humor -- though Kyle's was more sarcastic and witty than his own suggestive, plain dirty one. He really tried to keep their relationship professional (since they usually did meet only in the shop) but after catching Kyle in the college halls once or twice, he ended up flirting with him which.. honestly, wasn't that much of a surprise. He flirted with many people, and while that may have given him a bit of a _reputation_ , he was surprisingly serious about getting Kyle to agree on a date with him.  
"So, Kyle", the blonde started one day while mixing up a house special for the feisty little shit -- usually, the orders were complex ones but Kenny had managed to drag a promise of accepting a recommendation from him once a week -- making the other male groan aloud with something akin to exasperation coloring his tone. The noise made him grin and he took it as a confirmation to continue on with his obvious flirting; by now, Kyle could read it in his tone, if what he was going to say was an attempt at chatting up or not.  
"Did it hurt?", he continued, turning around to place the foam cup in front of the other student whose look was as dry as the deserts they'd been discussing about in History yesterday -- what? He had a talent for changing the topics.  
"Let me guess, when I fell from Heaven?", the Broflovski snarked, lifting the cup slightly to read what ingredients had been marked on the side; deeming it passable, he lowered it again to search for his wallet from the pockets of his over sized brown jacket. Honestly, it looked comfy as hell.  
"Nah. Did it hurt when you fell for me?", the barista finished, only to splutter in surprise as he got a few bills shoved into his face.

* * *

 

Okay, so, he may have gotten them into trouble.

On a Thursday night, Kenny had asked if Kyle wanted to hit up the local music store -- they had nice posters there and maybe, perhaps, the redhead had mentioned about liking the place a couple of times in their earlier conversations where they were still searching for decent topics to discuss. Rather surprisingly (or not really, considering all that had been going on), Kyle had accepted.

He promised he hadn't meant to break the window of the store. But he definitely had meant to grab Kyle and run after having done it.

"Well, this is a nice change of scenery", Kenny mused absently as he stretched his arms above his head, grimacing slightly as his back popped with the motion -- he had narrowly avoided a death while running through the streets and he was half-convinced it was only because of Kyle being there that he hadn't even gotten injured. The man had to be a miracle worker, or something.  
"Kenny, we're in a prison cell", came the dry response from the side and the blonde couldn't help but grin at that, though he turned his head slightly to hide the expression to avoid the glare he could almost _taste_ \-- yeah okay, he had a _type_ , so what? The guy was cute, alright, he had a feisty personality and the humor to match. Plus, that _ass..._  
"I was being sarcastic, Kyle", he snarked back, yelping when the redhead in question reached to slap him upside the head -- but he couldn't help but feel like that it was worth it, when Kyle grinned at him. _Yeah, a type._

* * *

 

They ended up getting released when Kenny explained that he had just panicked when he broke the window -- by accident!

Apparently the store owner was nice enough of a fellow that he didn't demand payment for the broken window (something about needing to get them replaced anyway, and now having a reason) but Kenny felt bad enough to arrange an unpaid working schedule for the old man for a week or two -- luckily, his current boss was understanding enough that she managed to change his shifts to accommodate to it, though he would be making a bit less than usual because of it. He could afford that for a week or two.  
"Right know, I don't know if I want to kiss you or shove you off of a bridge", Kyle said suddenly as they were walking home (he had been roped into waling the other student home, not that he had resisted much) and Kenny had to blink a couple of times and run the sentence through his mind again to be actually sure that he had heard right. A grin tugged at the corners of his lips as he fell into step besides the slightly smaller male with a distinct, rather smug air around him.

"Can I pick?"


End file.
